Watchmeister

Needless to say, I am in for 3-4.

I find the rants truly entertaining. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. What I learned in fairly short order from RWG is that buying a SS watch with a close to off-the-shelf movement is silly. Save your money for that solid gold or original movement watch which no one can replicate. Out of curiousity, I once did some simple calculations of what I suspect my friends here have spent on reps. You know what guys - we all could have bought anywhere from 1-3 gen panerai's this year. And on the straps, we tend to buy alot. On Elliott, I have no sympathy. He has done this to himself.

Johnnyboy- Ahh, a Latin scholar. Twotone- At the rate you are going you will be at powermax by a week from Thursday. Do we even have Powermax here?

Funny you bring this up. Finepics and I were discussing exactly this yesterday as we were trying to deal with the logistics of 100 cyclops. With the new Asian 7750 sub alongside the 49, 50, etc. there are probably enough folks to make it worthwhile. Especially, when you add the new cyclops to improve the magnification. As Finepics mentions, once the 7753 datewheels are complete he is going to focus on finding the right person to make the 2893. I was begging him just yesterday for the 7750 as well (I have the new Sub on the way). Finepics- I suspect we can find a way to underwrite the cost of set-up, if we find the right guy to do the work. P.S. Are you out of the doghouse yet?

I am reading this loop thinking that is a pretty watch...Then I start reading Clive's very entertaining description of changing the strap. Of course, his description is spot on. By the way I find it helpful to place a dark towel directly on the workspace (so you can see that bloody screw which you will inevitably lose and spend at least five minutes hyperventilating having read posts about never finding a replacement screw as above). Oh, and I keep the watch no more than a few inches above the towel while working. But lo and behold, Clive mentions there is a tube in the middle of the strap which holds those little ends in place. Holy cow, I have been running around with my 183 having changed the strap innumerable times and that little piece in the middle still sits in the middle of the crappy strap that came with it. I have never owned a gen radiomir so I didn't know. Here is my dilemma - I long since concluded that changing the strap was too scary a proposition and cannibalized an OEM Pre Vendome from another watch to permanently mount it on the 183. So of course I loctited the screws. Do I risk a change to stick that little tube in the strap? Oh, didn't mean to steal the thread. The watch looks great.

I haven't taken mine out of the box yet.

Definitely real. PAM is a friend and the co-developer with Palp.

Are you sure someone didn't just whip out the dremel?

I appreciate the sentiment. I miss those "good ole days." Sold out for a suit and fancy watches. What can I say?

I agree but in the last year I have spent over $700 for 7753 Daylight's and PAM 187. 7753 187 will probably be closer to $800-1,000. 2893's at $500-600. Now add in crowns. cyclops and service where appropriate. This is one expensive hobby. Hell, Fast Freddy will sell you a solid solid gold Polex President with original movement in the $3,500 range. Solid gold FM Casablance in the $1.500-2,000 range. I am driven less by price and more by quality of movement, aesthetic accuracy and percentage of cost of gen. I refer to it as the "rep ratio". There is a core group of folks here who easily spend the price of an excellent gen annually. But then again, gens are no fun. To quote a famous credit card company Purchase of non-working chrono rep - $60 Purchase of genuine PAM 196 - $6,000 Purchase of rare genuine Daytona - $14,000 Hearing from Ziggy that he has gotten that bizarre movement in your DW 6263 running flawlessly - Priceless!

Gold is just too tough. Absent using the same color and karat gold (14 does not look like 18 and plate does not look like solid), the rep never looks like gen, On plate the gold wears away (and you live in fear of it). Also, the weight is just so far off. I stay away from gold for these reasons. In the SS realm there are plenty of reps approaching 10-15% of actual cost that are pretty damn good. With gold you would have to pay a far higher price since a solid gold case is a large proportion of the cost of the gen. Look at Fast Freddy's solid gold reps.

I want some of that "Black Love." I do hope Palp re-emerges soon. I have no idea whether he had already sent them so they are done or they were never sent out. Time will tell. In the meantime, I am enjoying Fitch's pictures.

I attribute it to drinking with the blokes.

Well now I know how you guys afford this expensive hobby. Not everyone has a digital scale "lying around". They look great and the weight doesn't surprise me. With that size who needs brass knuckles.

By the way, I can't believe I am not the only knucklehead to own the Panerai "travel" case.

I am waiting on tracking number from Ken as well as the mystery man in Shanghai. Something has to show up. By then we will all be buying the 7753 version.

Very nice pics. It is nice to see that you and Quarks have different serial numbers. Maybe you two should compare if you ever get together.

"I see dead people." Definitely not gone. Reminiscent of the movie "Escape from New York."

Gen 24A: Gen 24B: Source: http://www.lacotedesmontres.com/Galerie-No_4092.htm But they did come in both polished and matte bezel. Do people agree that the crown looks pretty damn vis-a-vis the gen?

Nice to see you here. On this computer I see the Q&A. You have the A's. I just wish I had the Q's.

Woody- The pics I posted on RWG I were with a Lello crown. Not these crowns.

More importantly, I did hear from Tommy about a week ago and he said he was doing better and hoped to be back soon. He was very much affected by his familial loss and we wish him nothing but the best.

I am interested in 8 - ETA (4-7753, 3-2893, 1-7750) assuming the pricing is what Palpatine had previously quoted. Please confirm that the ETA version is the right version for all autos. I do have one question though. On the 2893 specifically under the previous post on RWG 1 the crown looked like it rested closer to the dial and that the diameter filled out more of the crown guard (but it may just be the pictures). RWG I Pics: The Latest Pic: The only reason I ask is that in an earlier post it had been mentioned that you had to go to a different fabricator and I just want to make sure the picture above does not reflect a change in what was originally offered. Very exciting though.

Enjoy the read.

I agree. Mine is on the way. I am likely to polish it up and am certainly adding the new cyclops to dramatically improve magnification. The rings I will investigate when I receive.